


Criminal

by golden_marigold



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, Marinette has to fight someone, One Shot, Thief, Truth or Dare, break-in, criminal, sleepover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-25 03:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14968370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golden_marigold/pseuds/golden_marigold
Summary: All the girls from school are having a sleepover at Alya's house. Yet, right as a truth or dare game is getting juicy, everyone hears a window shattering in Alya's little sisters' room.





	Criminal

**Author's Note:**

> This story is very complicated and my first fully completed fan-fiction. I hope that it doesn't suck too much! Also, sorry if there are plot holes. I tried.

~Marinette's POV~

Marinette dove into her parent’s bakery head first and hit her knee on the bottom of the counter.

“Sweetie, are you okay?” A deep voice spoke above her.

“Yeah dad I’m fine. Just late to the sleepover at Alya’s tonight,” Marinette explained while brushing herself off. She had finished fighting an akuma with Chat Noir and then he wanted to get ice cream with her while strolling in the park. Yet, they ended up talking in the park for about an hour when Marinette remembered about the sleepover with Alya, Rose, Juleka, Mylene, and Alix after Chat said he didn’t have too many friends in real life. It made her sorry for him at first and then it sent her into a flurry of panic due to her realization. So, Marinette sprinted back to the bakery and de-transformed in an alleyway along the way.

“Oh, okay Mari. Be careful, alright? I know Alya’s parents aren’t in town,” Tom stated with a sigh. Oh. Marinette forgot about that. That’s why Alya didn’t invite the boys over. Also, Alya’s twin sisters were with her parents, so it would be just them. Marinette knew they’d be fine, Alix and Alya were total bad-asses, and Marinette was Ladybug for heaven’s sake. So, it’s not like she was worried, but on another level, she was worried. Even though she could do more damage to someone than Nino or Nathaniel, having people over other than six teenage girls might have been a good idea. However, Marinette understood why having boys over while Alya’s parents weren’t home sounded bad.

“Yes papa, we will. I’ll be sure to text you if anything happens,” Marinette concluded. Then, she ran up the spiral staircase to her room. She needed to get ready quick. Yet, she was used to that every day, so it wasn’t a big deal.

~Small time skip~

Knocking on Alya’s door, Marinette was in her pajama’s, and held her bag and sleeping bag in separate arms.

After ten seconds, the door handle turned over and Alya exclaimed, “Hey girl!” And after a pause, continued, “Oh my gosh, how are carrying all of that? Get in, hurry up!” Alya took Marinette’s sleeping bag and rushed her inside. Marinette laughed, it was a lot to hold, but she hadn’t been struggling at all.

While getting settled in the living room where the entire sleepover was going to be, Rose and Mylene walked in from the kitchen.

“Hi Marinette, how are you?” Rose asked while Mylene hugged her.

“I’m good, is everyone here yet?”

Rose looked down and sighed, “No. Everyone is here except Juleka.”

“Oh, okay. Well what are we doing tonight?” Marinette said, trying to change the subject so Rose wasn’t unhappy. She knew that Rose and Juleka were the best of friends, maybe more.

“Board games, baking cookies, truth or dare…you know, the good stuff,” Alya said staring at Marinette with a gleam in her eye. Hearing “truth or dare” and “good stuff” paired with Alya’s glare at her, left Marinette a little unsettled. A lot of secrets could be spilled tonight if she wasn’t careful.

As Marinette was setting up her sleeping bag on the living-room floor, she could hear a knock on the door. Then she heard footsteps walking towards it, presumably Alya, then the door opening and excited squeals. Marinette laughed. She knew that Alya was getting more and more excited about this sleepover by the minute and Marinette hoped it didn’t have to do with the truth or dare thing.

“Hey Marinette,” A calm voice said while walking in the room.

“Hi Juleka,” Marinette responded while looking up the see the purple haired girl. Rose and Alya were close behind her and Rose looked a lot happier that she did 3 minutes ago.

“Okay girls, so now that everyone’s here, what should we do first?” Alya asked as Mylene and Alix strolled in from the kitchen.

“Let’s bake cookies!” Mylene shouted excitedly. Alix scoffed.

“No, no, no. We should have a pillow fight.”

Mylene looked afraid at that statement and slowly stepped away from Alix. Suddenly, Alix picked up the pillow closest to her and chucked it at Alya, hitting her straight in the face.

“Oh, you are on,” Alya said and turned around. After two seconds, Alya whipped around at the speed of light and fired two pillows at Juleka and Rose. Then, everyone seemed to go crazy. Pillows were being thrown every which way and it was a free for all with everyone against each other. Of course, after 15 minutes of Alix destroying everybody, Alya coming in close second, Juleka and Rose building a fort out of blankets, and Mylene hiding in the kitchen, the entire living room was in a disarray. Marinette didn’t know what was happening, but eventually, Alix tackled Alya to the ground with Alya having no ammunition. 

“Okay, okay. You win. Can we please go bake cookies now?” Alya pleaded with a laugh.

Immediately, Alix picked herself and said, “Sure!” So, they all made their way to the kitchen and Marinette started to tell everyone the ingredients to her Dupain-Cheng cookies. They were the best cookies out there and everyone knew that. After they got the cookies in the oven, the girls sat on the counter and started conversing about their day. It being a Friday, Alix was talking about how annoying Kim was being at school, Mylene said how sweet Ivan was to give her lyrics to a new song he wrote for her, Juleka and Rose were mostly silent and laughed at what everyone else was saying, and Alya was showing everyone videos about the Akuma attack earlier.

“See guys, Chat was being so flirtatious with Ladybug today. Oh! And I also got a picture of them walking in the park together! SO CUTE!!!” Alya squealed with delight. Marinette only just then realized how that must have looked to the public eye. She and Chat Noir strolling in the park together with ice-cream. It was a little romantic the more she thought about it. Alya and her had done that before, yet, Ladybug and Chat doing it probably looked a little different. Maybe next time they should do something in a more private setting, so the public didn’t interpret it wrong.

“Marinette! Earth to Marinette!” Alya shouted nudging her in the side. Marinette looked up at Alya.

“Yeah! I’m here.”

Everyone laughed and rolled their eyes at her. Marinette was always lost in thought.

“I was just saying how Ladybug and Chat noir might announce being a couple soon!” Alya said with bright eyes. Marinette’s smile dropped.

“I thought you said on your show with Nadia how they weren’t a couple,” Marinette responded with her brows furrowed.

“That was just for the public to know. A girl can still ship them, right?” Alya replied, smirking.

“Well, yeah. But…but,” Marinette started stuttering.

“Girl, sometimes I don’t get you.” Ayla said laughing. “Me shipping them doesn’t affect you, right?” Alya gasped. “OH MY GOD,” she shouted and then turned it into a whisper, “Do you like Chat Noir?”

Marinette’s face scrunched up and she stuck her tongue out trying to make a disgusted face. “No. I just… I- “

“YOU DO!!!” Alya said and the others gasped.

“No! I don’t, I just think they don’t have any chemistry.” Marinette breathed out trying to come up with an excuse and shut the conversation down.

“You are crazy sometimes Marinette. Okay, let us go through their moments."

Marinette gulped.

"First of all, they were in the park today eating ice-cream together. In public! People were coming up to them for pictures and stuff and they didn’t care at all,” Alya said but got interrupted.

“Why is walking through the park cute? We do that together all the time. What’s the difference?” Marinette said, almost as a statement rather than a question.

“Because they are superheroes always running away from paparazzi. We are not. They have chemistry. We do not. They act flirty. We do not. You see why I ship them. They are so cute together and we are just friends. Everyone knows that. They know that half of Paris thinks they are secretly a couple but we don’t. Why would couple material just stroll in a park together without a care in the world?” Marinette blushed after Alya finished her rant.

“Half of Paris thinks they are a couple?” Marinette squeaked.

“Don’t you?” Alya raised an eyebrow.

“Sure, I guess you’ve convinced me,” Marinette deadpanned. She obviously wasn’t convinced, as she knew she and Chat were NOT a couple. But this conversation needed to be over.

“Alrighty then,” Alya smirked. Then, the timer for the cookies rang. Marinette hadn't realized they had been talking for so long, but she was thankful that conversation as over.

Then, they put the cookies on a plate and burned the tops of their mouths trying to eat them as quickly as possible as they were so good. But, after about 10 minutes of constant eating, Alya forced everyone to play truth or dare. Apparently, Marinette wasn’t the only one with secrets and fears. But she was also confused as she knew Alya had a secret. Alya was Rena Rouge. Of course, Alya hadn’t told Marinette so Marinette trusted her. But still, Marinette hoped no one would ask too many super-hero related questions to Alya or herself.

“Juleka,” Alya turned her head to Rose and Juleka, who were sitting as close together in crisscross applesauce on the living room floor as possible, “truth or dare.”

“Dare,” Juleka said quietly. Alya looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

“I dare you to reenact your favorite ladybug move.”

Marinette turned to Alya, surprised she didn’t want Juleka to do something with Rose. Alya was a big Juleka x Rose shipper, probably in her top ten ships and Marinette was surprised Alya didn’t snatch an opportunity. But that was because Alya has a strange way of doing truth or dare. Every person gets to ‘truth or dare’ everyone in the group at once. So, after Juleka, Alya has to ‘truth or dare’ Alix, Mylene, Rose, and Marinette. Then, the next person starts asking ‘truth or dare’ to everyone. It was fair, as everyone got equal amounts of requests, but Marinette knew Alya had prepared questions and others probably had too. That’s another good thing about this system. If you wanted someone to do something or tell something, you could prepare your questions. Yet, Marinette never had any good questions for anyone, but everyone always had juicy questions for her.

While Marinette was dreading her question, Juleka was gearing up to do a front flip on the couch. Of course, she failed at it and landed flat on her face. As she was walking back to the circle of girls, Alya turned to Alix and the game continued. After Alix ended up attempting yo-yo tricks, Mylene revealed the first time she kissed Ivan, and Rose admitted she had a crush on someone at school (wonder who that could be), it was finally Marinette’s turn to be asked.

“Truth or dare Marinette,” Alya said while nudging Marinette in the side.

“Um. Truth,” Marinette gulped hoping Alya’s question was as nice as the others. Okay, so her others weren’t nice per say, but Alya had more information and questions about Marinette than the others.

“Hmm…” Alya said, pretending to think. She totally wasn’t. Her eyes were staring straight through Marinette’s soul. “Why do you always avoid questions about Chat Noir?”

Marinette gasped inwardly even though she somewhat expected a question like that. This question was so complex that even she didn’t know the full, honest answer. The obvious reason that she avoided questions about him was because she was ladybug and talking about her partner was risky. But it was also because of other things. She didn’t really know much about Chat Noir. Didn’t know what his personality was like outside of his mask, didn’t know who he was outside of his mask. Marinette had a different opinion of Chat Noir than everyone else. To Paris, he was a superhero that fights aluminized victims with Ladybug and flirts with her. To her, he was a person that she could never live without and a person that wanted to know more about her. Paris didn’t know whether Chat Noir and Ladybug knew each other’s identities. Marinette did. It was all so complicated. But still, Marinette had to come up with something and it couldn’t be a lie because Alya would know straight away. So, Marinette said the most truthful thing she could.

“Because I respect him and have a different opinion on him than most people.” After Marinette said that, Alya sighed heavily.

“Mari you can’t make it so vague like that. Come on. Why do you have a different opinion of him than most people?” Alya pushed.

“Hey, I thought it was one question each. Not, ‘let’s ask Marinette weird questions so we can get more information out of her than if we asked a simple question,’” Marinette retorted.

“So, you do have more information then? Hmm?” Alya said, obviously not caring about what Marinette was actually saying.

“Oh. My. Gosh. Fine. What was your SECOND question, again?” Marinette sighed while rolling her eyes, she really didn’t want to answer it.

“Why do you have a different opinion of Chat Noir than most people?” Marinette listened silently and then took a large breath.

“Because he is not just this superhero that flirts with Ladybug. He saves her life. If it wasn’t for him, Ladybug would have either died, or given up her miraculous by now.” Marinette paused in thought and then continued. “Everyone thinks Ladybug is better, and frankly, I think Chat Noir is. He is always risking himself for her. She doesn’t do that for him enough. He trusts her with all his life to make up her not trusting herself,” Marinette put a hand over her mouth. “I... I mean, she probably does. That’s completely stupid. Obviously the number one hero of Paris trusts herself. Why wouldn’t she? Hehe.” Marinette realized she was looking at the floor and brought her head up. Everyone was looking at her with wide eyes and quizzical expressions. Alya had her jaw dropped. But Rose broke the silence.

“I didn’t know you appreciated him that much Marinette. After that, I think we all will appreciate Chat Noir more,” she said with a gentle smile. Marinette smiled back, relieved they focused on that part of her speech.

“Wow girl! You really like him don’t you! I guess he is kinda un-appreciated,” Alya added. “He is her partner after all. Ladybug made that very clear.”

Marinette smiled and then paused to think. She always thought Chat was her partner, not sidekick. She didn’t understand that mindset where she was the one in charge. Yes, she always thought of the complicated ideas, had lucky charm and the power to purify akumas. But, most of the time Chat was the one doing the heavy work and he always understood exactly what she was thinking. Plus, he was always there before her. Really, he was one of the most important people in her life, and if she didn’t like Adrien, then maybe Chat would be in the picture.

Suddenly, Marinette’s thoughts were interrupted by glass shattering in Alya’s twin sisters’ room. Everyone immediately turned their heads to look toward the room and see what made the sound. Marinette slowly stood up and looked around. Alya was giving her a terrified look and everyone else was just silent. After about 30 seconds of Marinette standing in place and the others sat on the floor as still as possible, footsteps were heard walking through the room. If it was what Marinette thought it was, she would have to transform fast.

“Okay girls. Here’s the plan. Everyone quietly walk outside to a neighbor’s house. They can help you, um, us from there,” Marinette whispered. Everyone nodded except for Juleka, who couldn’t hear what she said. Marinette continued, “3…2…1…go, go.”

Everyone slowly and casually stood up and then bolted towards the door. Marinette facepalmed and noticed Alya hadn’t gone with the four other girls.

“What are you doing?” They both whispered to each other. Alya reached towards the floor and picked up her phone.

“I’m gonna try and take a picture of them so I can tell Ladybug and Chat,” Alya said while turning her phone on and going to the camera setting. 

“Alya, are you crazy? I don’t want you getting hurt. Please go so I can…” Marinette insisted and then trailed off. Then, the door was heard slamming shut, assuming everyone got out, and the footsteps in the room stopped.

“Why are you planning to look? You’re the clumsiest person I know. Go outside so I can take the picture and bolt out of here,” Alya retorted quieter, assuming Marinette meant she was going to go and look.

“Okay, why not you go do that while I…um…get help inside,” Marinette said with uncertainty. She really didn’t want to leave Alya alone with whoever this was. This was the only time in her life she hoped there was an akuma and not something else.

“The others already are! I’m just going to go and take a picture. I do it with Akuma victims all the time. You can join me,” Alya finalized and proceeded to walk toward the room. Marinette inwardly cringed and followed close behind. She didn’t know what Alya was doing, they should just leave. Leave and then transform into ladybug, not go towards the noise unarmed. Unharmed. Oh no. Marinette saw an umbrella leaning against a chair (It was Juleka’s as she was always prepared and hated the rain) and picked it up. She stepped next to Alya, semi-ready with a purple umbrella in hand. They proceeded to walk towards the door and heard footsteps come closer and closer to the opposite end of the door. Alya lifted her phone and they both waited. After standing completely still for about 20 seconds, the door handle turned slowly, and the door creaked open. Then, it flung open and a tall man dressed in black, holding a black trash bag and a flashlight was seen in the flash of the camera as Alya pressed the button. As soon as it was taken, the man dropped his stuff and lunged for the camera. However, Mariette was ready and was able to hit his body to the left with the point of the umbrella, but not before Alya had tripped backwards at the sudden shock.

“Go! Go!” Marinette shouted, “I can deal with it now!” To be quite honest, Marinette didn’t think she could fully deal with it. Yes, she knew more Martial Arts than most people, and she was stronger than most people, and she fought villains almost every week, but she wasn’t transformed and could only rely on her own body to save herself and Alya.

As she was shouting this, Alya had already run a good ten feet away, still in sight of Marinette. She was dialing 112, trying to post an alert on the lady blog, and looking for something to help Marinette with all at the same time.

Meanwhile, Marinette was doing an okay job of trying to at-least knock out the guy planning to jump out the window the man broke and transform. The lights were still off, so she had no clue if the robber had a knife or a gun, and that was the most terrifying part of it. Not the part where she had to attempt to punch the man twice her size in the nose to make him let go of her other arm, not the part where she had to open her bag with that free hand so Tikki could fly away, and not the part where he flung the umbrella she was armed with out of the broken window.  

After she released Tikki, Marinette sprang up to a proper fighting position and was ready to knock him out completely. He also stood up and started to throw fast, powerful punches. Luckily, he didn’t realize how short Marinette was compared to him and was punching the air. On one of his punches, Marinette grabbed his arm and strained to flip him upside down, like she had done many times in the past. Yet, without her powers she wasn't as strong, and he didn’t budge at all. He just laughed a low and horrific laugh that turned into a grunt as Marinette kicked him in the groin. As soon as she did that, Marinette started to attack as much as possible, still in the darkness. She could try and run, but that would only result in the man either chasing after her or running away, and because it was nighttime, Marinette would have a hard time finding him after that. The police wouldn’t help very much either. They never did.

Then, Marinette remembered Alya. Taking a split-second chance to glance over, she saw Alya standing there, wide-eyed, and talking into the phone. But, because she was looking a millisecond too long, the man kicked her powerfully and she fell to the floor. He immediately ran to pick up the bag and jump out the window. But someone was already there to greet him.

As Marinette lay outside the room’s door holding her stomach in pain, Alya was by her side trying to pick her up still holding a phone. Grunts and crashes were heard from the room as the man was fighting someone else. She didn’t know exactly who it was, but Marinette had a strong idea. She silently thanked him and tried to sit up. But, she ended up leaning forward until Alya sat her fully upright. Turns out the Miraculous had more powers than she thought. That kind of kick was stinging while in the suit, but here, it was like all of the pain she had ever gotten all flew to the middle of her body. Eventually, Marinette stood up and started limping with Alya towards the door outside. She needed to transform to help Chat, but the injury hurt so bad she didn’t know if she could. As they reached the door, Marinette turned around to look at Alya.

“You have to go and get more help while I wait for Chat,” It was a lame excuse, but she needed it to get away.

“No! I already got help and obviously it worked as Chat is here. We must leave now so you can go to the hospital,” Alya replied with tears rushing down her face.

“Chat can take me. It will be faster than waiting for an ambulance.”

“Fine, but I’m waiting with you until Chat comes,” Alya said with a determined face, aside from the tears. Marinette was lucky her best friend was so good in battle. 

Then, they heard a loud scream in the room, and Marinette forgot about her injury. She ripped from Alya’s grasp and ran to the room again. Once she peeped in, she saw something she did not want to see. Chat on the floor clutching his leg and the head of the man disappearing out of the window. In the saddest way possible, Marinette uttered the words.

“Tikki, spots on.”

Tikki came flying from the corner of the room, and into Marinette's earings

Ladybug picked Chat up as gently as possible, bride-style, and walked toward the window.

“Sorry Chat, but this may hurt,” She expected him to respond with a sassy remark, but he didn’t. Chat just looked up at her and smiled the best he could at that moment.

Soon, Ladybug was holding Chat in her arms and jumping along the rooftop towards the hospital.

Once they got there, Ladybug de-transformed in a dark corner outside and waited for Chat’s miraculous to turn off. She had been running along the rooftops for a long time, for Chat was heavier than expected, and she still had that injury in her stomach. He had passed out half-way there and that had made it even more difficult.

As soon as she saw the green light flash out from his body, she started yelling.

“Help! Help!” As loud as she could and when she saw a figure running towards them, she let her body fall limp on the grass next to Chat's civilian form.

~Time Skip~

~Marinette's POV~

It was Monday, and Marinette was running late to school, like always. Friday was one of the craziest days of her life. Something that started off as a chill and fun sleepover turned into that. Apparently, a person had found her and a boy with blond hair outside passed out in the grass near the hospital and then brought them inside with the help of other nurses.  The first thing Marinette saw was her parents holding her hand and a nurse looking very confused. When Marinette spoke with the nurses, she found out why. Her stomach had healed overnight. She guessed it was the help of Tikki and the healing being Ladybug that previous night did. Also, the main nurse was trying to figure out why she was with a blond boy, but Marinette said she didn’t want to know anything about him and that he couldn’t know anything about her. The nurses were even more confused after that as Marinette only asked how he was doing. His leg had fully healed from a slight sprain throughout the night, too. She wasn’t surprised about that. No one in the hospital knew exactly what happened and Alya was the one that gave them her name. Meanwhile, Chat was evidently asking how she was all the time and who she was. But Marinette always repeated “he cannot know”. They had made Marinette stay in the hospital one more day because they were worried and confused, and finally, Marinette got to leave Sunday morning.

As she was sprinting to class, Marinette was thinking about what she would tell her classmates. Alya and Chat were the only ones who knew most of the story and she had to convince Alya of a fake story as well. Maybe something very close to the truth but that Chat had taken her to the hospital. That would work as Alya would probably believe it. It was night when she was running along the rooftops with Chat and she saw no one see them, so everyone might believe that. But the scream that Chat made was something complicated. Maybe say the robber screamed and then escaped? No that wouldn’t convince Alya. It sounded like a Chat scream. Okay… Chat screamed out of pain and the man escaped. Chat saw Marinette come into the room and then took her to the hospital. Yes. That sounded okay. Maybe. Oh well. Marinette knew she would have to deal with that plan as she was coming close to the school doors.

 ~Adrien's POV~

Adrien sat in class thinking about what happened on Friday. On Friday night, he was interrupted researching things about Ladybug online when his phone went off with the picture that Alya posted. When he got to Alya’s house a window was broken, everything was dark, and a person was on the floor, probably in pain. Adrien guessed it was someone at the sleepover as Marinette and Alya were talking about it with all the other girls previously that day and he couldn’t help but listen in. When he started fighting the man, he got kicked so hard in the leg that he could only let out a blood-curdling shriek. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he barely heard someone mutter something above him. Then, he saw Ladybug’s face and felt his hair going crazy in the wind. That was it. All he remembered. He hated that he was in so much pain he couldn’t hear what she had said before he saw her. Also, how did she show up so early? One second, he screamed, the next. She was there. It was like she was already close and ready for action. Then, in the morning, the nurses had told him that he was found next to a girl with blue pigtails near the hospital and she didn’t him to know her name for “unknown reasons”. It was all so puzzling. When Nathalie picked him up on Sunday morning, she was told nothing more than he was. Once he got home, a huge lecture came from his father about how he can’t leave his room whenever he wanted and drink at night. He was glad that’s what his father assumed but that was so far from the case. Because his father asked the hospital to keep it a secret that “Gabriel Agreste’s son Adrien Agreste was at the hospital,” no one knew except for him, the people in the hospital, his father, and Nathalie. So, he did not expect what was happening when Marinette came through the classroom door with Alya by her side.

“Marinette I heard you had to go to the hospital. Are you okay? What happened? We were so worried when we didn’t see you and Alya in the group after we all left the house,” Were among the things that were said. Adrien was surprised at this and wanted to know more. Marinette going to the hospital? Was it her that was on the floor in pain? Adrien had so many thoughts running through his head he felt his brain was going to explode.

“Hey guys. I’m fine. Just a slight stomach injury. That’s all.” She was smiling but Adrien could tell she was nervous. He would be too if he was asked all those questions at once.

“Yeah but what happened? We heard a scream. Was that you? Why couldn’t we find you after that?” Alix said with wide eyes, obviously interested in the story.

“Um. I. Um. I was hurt by that man and then taken to the hospital by Chat. That’s why I disappeared.”

“So it was Marinette who was on the floor near the doorway to that room,” Adrien thought. “Wait. I didn’t take her to the hospital. Why is she lying?” However, before he could properly think of a reason, everyone started asking more and more questions.

“Wow you’re so brave. I can’t believe that happened to you. So, it was you that screamed? It sounded like a girl’s scream so that makes sense."

Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Why was Chat there? What happened before that? Why did the guy hit you in the first place?” Were just a few of the things that were fired Marinette’s way. Adrien felt bad for her. All these questions must make her so uncomfortable. He got a lot of those in interviews as a model so he knew how they felt. He also had many questions running through his mind. But most weren’t the ones that were said.

“Oh my god. Guys. Shut up. Obviously, she is uncomfortable and needs space. Leave her alone,” Alya said, staring harshly at everyone who was talking.

Everyone stopped asking questions for that class, but every break after that, Marinette was ridiculed to no end. It was painful to watch and Adrien honestly felt pity for the girl even though he knew she was lying. Something would have to be done. If somebody didn’t save Marinette from all this commission, someone was going to get akumatized. Whether it be Marinette or Alya, Adrien did not want to fight either one. He remembered how hard it was to defeat Alya. But Marinette had never been akumatized, and if she was, he wouldn’t know what to do. She was different than Alya and Nino. And even though their akumatized forms were hard to beat, Adrien felt like Marinette’s would be even harder. She had a certain part of her personality that would probably come out. He didn’t know what it was but he knew she could be dangerous when she wanted to be, akumatized or not. The fact that she apparently got hit in the stomach by the thief and was playing it off so nonchalantly was weird to begin with.

Adrien had made his choice and started walking towards the bathroom.

“Plagg,” he said as Plagg flew out of his shirt, “We have to transform.”

“But we were just about to leave school, and I hate school,” Plagg exaggerated.

“Yeah, well, Marinette needs our help,” Adrien said, “Plagg claws out!”

As soon as Adrien had turned into his other persona, he raced out of the bathroom and started climbing the stairs. He would have to be a bit extravagant today. Not like he was overly extravagant already. Because he totally was.

Once Adrien got to the 3rd floor he took no time in leaping towards Alya and Marinette. But, because Marinette was being mobbed, he accidentally fell on one of the news cameras and broke it. Oops. Serves them right.

“Hey everyone, I see that this girl Marinette I saved last night is being interviewed by all of you,” Chat paused and stared into one of the cameras that was still rolling. “Just leave her alone and move on with your lives,” Adrien looked at Marinette and smiled. “Looks like these two need a lift home, can I offer you my assistance?”

“UGH. Please!" Alya exclaimed. Chat then scooped Marinette and Alya by the waists and jumped out of there onto the roof. Alya looked somewhat happy and like she wasn’t just screaming at multiple reporters a few seconds ago. However, Marinette looked… kind of scared and wide-eyed. Adrien knew why. She had a secret. Only he knew that she was keeping something from everyone else. He knew for a fact that he did not take Marinette to the hospital Friday night. Ladybug took him. Wait. Who took Marinette to the hospital? And why did she heal so quickly? He remembered seeing someone rolling on the floor holding their stomach before he pounced on the guy. If it was actually Marinette, it must have still hurt. Oh. Maybe that’s why her face was scrunched up and weird. He was totally holding her stomach. He lessened his grip a little and continued sprinting to Alya’s house.

He reached the front door to Alya’s house after about five more minutes of silence. Chat slowly let Alya and Marinette down.

“If you ever need help like this again just post it on your blog and me or Ladybug will be right there,” Chat said smiling.

“Will do. Thank you for helping us and Marinette on Friday,” Alya replied and winked at Marinette as she opened her front door.

Once Alya disappeared, Chat glanced over at Marinette who had been quiet the entire time. She was looking away and holding her hands. It reminded him of how she acted around him when he was without the costume. Normally she was more confident around Chat.

“I think we’ve got some stuff to talk about,” He said while looking everywhere except Marinette’s eyes.

“Umm. Yeah. Let’s get to my house first,” Marinette responded noticing a couple watching them.

“Okay,” Chat whispered softy. “Am I hurting you?”

Marinette whipped her head around looked at him with a quizzical expression. “What?”

“Your stomach.”

“Oh. Um. No, I’m fine. It’s mostly healed.”

“Oh,” Chat replied. So, it _was_ her being reserved and protective of her secret.

He scooped her up in his arms like when Ladybug took him to the hospital and started running. Running towards Marinette’s house as fast as possible. He was so puzzled and confused. He wanted questions answered but he didn’t want to pressure her. Yet he was the only one who knew about the fact that Marinette lied.

Landing on the balcony connected to her room, Chat set her down gently and dropped his smile after making eye contact. She did the exact same.

“Come inside,” Marinette gestured to the door latch.

Marinette opened the hatch on the floor to her room and slipped inside. He went through and landed on her bed then climbed down the stairs.

Soon, they were both standing awkwardly looking at each other. After a minute of silence and Marinette putting her bag down in her chair, Chat finally spoke.

“Why did you lie?"

Adrien could see Marinette visibly exhale. She opened her mouth and closed it probably five times. Adrien didn’t want to pressure her but he was also a bit disappointed in her. He knew Marinette to be this strong girl that was so trustworthy and kind to everyone. His question was valid. He has caught her lying before but just brushed it off. However, this lie couldn’t be ignored. He needed to know what she was hiding. She could be Hawk Moth for heaven’s sake. But Adrien really hoped she wasn’t Hawk Moth. Adrien just wanted to know that she was lying for a good reason. He had already lost Chloe to lying and he didn’t want to lose her. Still, he respected her privacy and feelings. He was in her room after all.

She wasn’t responding. Out of sadness, confusion, and frustration he turned around and walked towards her ladder.

“Wait. Chat,” Marinette grabbed his arm and pulled him back a bit. He was surprised how strong she was. “I can tell you why I was lying but Ladybug’s identity will be revealed.”

Why would Ladybugs identity be revealed because of this? It didn’t make any sense.

“Why?”

“Chat I’m… I know who Ladybug is and she said that I could tell you if you wanted to know,” Marinette sighed.

“I don’t want to know her identity from you Marinette. I only want to know why you lied. And if I ever do find out her identity then I want it from her,” Adrien said as truthfully as possible.

“Oh. Okay,” Marinette exhaled but then took a deep breath and continued, “Chat I don’t want to make this conversation awkward. I know that Ladybug took you to the hospital and you are probably wondering why I lied to everyone. Is that what this strange tension is?”

“Yeah. Wait. How do you know Ladybug took me to the hospital? And how do you know Ladybug’s identity? And why does your story not make sense? Was that really you on the floor when I arrived? You don’t seem hurt now,” Adrien couldn’t help it. The questions just spilled out. However, Marinette didn’t seem annoyed or hurt, just kind of…sad.

 “Chat. I lied for a reason. This all correlates and I don’t know how to answer your questions without knowing what story you have. Everyone seems to think different things and there are so many different rumors.”

“I gathered that you were at Alya’s house for a sleepover and somehow got hurt by the guy and then I apparently carried you to the hospital.”

“That’s probably the best version out there. And the most realistic. Chat, do you want to know the truth?”

“Yes. I don’t understand why everyone must keep so many secrets and lie so much. Why can’t everybody be honest? Like Ladybug. Why is she always so secretive?” Chat kind of just got lost in a rant for a second and then added, “I just don’t understand why Ladybug doesn’t want to reveal her identity.”

“It because she is trying to protect her family and friends. It’s very risky in battle and if anyone other person than you found out it would be really dangerous for everyone around her.”

Oh. Chat thought it was a bit more than that. Like some weird secret Ladybug was hiding from him. But that made sense. He never really thought too much about it. Blinded by love perhaps.

“Anyways, do you want to hear the story or not?”

Adrien nodded.

“So it started as a normal sleepover and we were all playing truth or dare in the living room. But then we heard a window shattering in Alya’s little sisters’ room. I made everyone leave but eventually it was me and Alya staring at each other and quietly arguing about who would leave.”

“Why didn’t you both just leave with everyone else?”

“Alya wanted to stay to take a picture of the person and post it so that you or Ladybug could come,” Marinette seemed in deep thought, “but I didn’t want to leave her alone. So I went with her.”

“Why did you stay in the first place though?”

Marinette closed her eyes. “Because I wanted to fight him.”

Adrien was so confused. What made Marinette want to fight him? She could have left it to him or Ladybug. “What on Earth made you want to do that?”

“I know. It sounds stupid. You’ll find out why soon. Can I continue with my story?” It looked like Marinette didn’t want to stay on that subject so Chat just let her keep talking. “Alya was walking towards the room door and it was closed. We could hear the footsteps and all I wanted to do was run. But I at least had to protect Alya so I stayed and grabbed an umbrella.”

“An umbrella?” Adrien started laughing. He couldn’t help it. It was a good idea but it didn’t seem to fit in this powerful story. After he calmed down, he looked at Marinette. She was blushing hardcore.

“It’s not like there was a katana laying around Chat. I was trying to be smart,” Marinette said seriously but he could tell she was still blushing a little.

“Okay. Okay sorry. Continue.”

“We were walking toward the door and waited for it to open. When it did, Alya snapped the pic that you apparently saw,” She paused, “but then he lunged for her and the phone, and in the process, Alya got knocked down.” So it was Alya that was on the floor? “But I was able to attack him from the side so Alya could get up and away.” So it wasn’t Alya. “And I guess my plans changed. It turned into knock him out so I can leave instead of a simple hit and run. That was stupid. I should have just grabbed Alya and ran after the initial blow. But I got lost in the fight. Oh. And we were in complete darkness the entire time which I guess you already knew.”

Adrien needed to breathe and he wasn’t the one telling the story. It was not only pitch black with a sprinkle of moonlight, but Adrien remembered the guy to be at least double the size of him.  Marinette fought that with and an umbrella no less?

“We ended up fighting for probably 5 minutes but I ended up glancing over at Alya and he took the opportunity to kick me in the stomach.”

A kick in the stomach? Five minutes? Chat could barely fight him for one before he was knocked out. And chat had night vision.

“Wait. Wait. Wait. You got kicked in the stomach? Kicked? How did you recover so quickly?” Adrien asked and at the end of his speech his mouth remained open.

“That is something that you will also find out. Anyhow, then I heard you fighting him and walked to the front door with Alya,” Marinette’s eyes started to look glossy. “But I heard your scream and had to go see if you were okay.”

So, the figure above him was Marinette. Marinette muttered those words and then Ladybug took him to the hospital. It still didn’t make any senc-oh. OH. OHhhHhhHH.

Chat was unconsciously stepping backward until he hit Marinette’s desk. She was the one. The girl. His Lady. Ladybug.

“Chat, are you okay? I’m sorry if I disappointed you. I’m sorry I haven’t told you sooner. I was scared and worried. Not necessarily that you wouldn’t like me, but that it looked like I didn’t care for you. Because I do. I truly do lo- “Marinette was cut off by Chat lunging at her.

He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed with as much force as possible. They ended up falling to the floor and he had to hold her with one arm while lowering them to the floor with the other. As her back softly landed on the wood, she wrapped her arms around him too, and pressed her cheek into his. Adrien felt the most satisfied and sure of something he had ever been in his life.

Of course it was Marinette. The creative and confident girl that was always late for class. The girl that gave everyone in her class macarons just to be nice. The girl that made her classmates and teachers gifts with so much care and thought.  The girl that had pictures of him all over her room. The girl that was always stuffing cookies into her purse. The girl that had beautiful blue hair and gorgeous bluebell eyes. The girl that took the lead when everyone else backed out. The girl that was so talented in everything she did that their other classmates would either be in awe or engrossed in jealousy. The girl that was Ladybug. 

Their hug lasted over a minute. And Adrien figured that he should probably get up now. He pushed himself up and then held out a hand for Marinette. She graciously accepted it and lifted herself off the ground.

“Can I show you who I am?”

Marinette’s eyes went wide and started stuttering.

“Uhhhhh. I guess so. Wait. Are you sure?”

“I mean, I’m sure. But I have a feeling you might freak out just a little,” Chat winked at her and she looked even more unsure.

“Why would I freak out? You’re just a normal civilian like me.”

“Well. I know you. In real life.”

Marinette’s face dropped.

“You what.”

“We know each other. I have been here before. And as I look around it looks like I’m always here.”

Marinette gulped and pried her eyes from Chat’s. Adrien watched her face intensely as she glanced at the things in her room. Her expression started off neutral, then it looked confused, then panicked.

“Plagg, claws off.”

Adrien smiled. Just smiled. And Marinette stared. Just stared. Stared for what felt like an eternity. Two high-pitched voices could be heard above them but Marinette kept staring at him. Until finally she collapsed to the floor and covered her face. Adrien slowly bent down and pried her hands away from her face. It turns out she was mumbling something in her hands.

“Adrien. Adrien is my partner. Adrien and I flirt all the time. I carried Adrien to the hospital. Adrien has saved my life multiple times. Adrien is Chat. Chat is Adrien. Chat is the one I’ve had a crush on this entire time?”

Adrien blushed at the last comment but managed to lift her chin up.

“Hi.”

“Oops.”

“Oops? Why say oops?”

“Because that represents the whole of my current state.”

Adrien laughed.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah,” Marinette responded.

“Do you like me?” He leaned in to fluster her. It worked. He asked her to see how she’d react. He already knew she had a crush on him. The posters weren't just fashion posters.

“Uh. Yeah. You like Ladybug and I like you. Funny how the universe works itself out.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said. He was glad the universe worked itself out in this way. But now Adrien and Marinette were just smiling at each other without saying anything. They were still on the floor due to Marinette’s mini breakdown. It wasn’t getting awkward, just different. Like the space in-between them has never been felt like this before. A good strange kind of feeling. Adrien glanced across Marinette’s face and his eyes landed on her lips.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yeah,” Marinette squeaked out, and suddenly, they were kissing.

THE END


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